scald
by ElasticBobaTurtle
Summary: But he can think of no answer, only the lingering scald of her gaze. Green, Blue. Oldrivalshipping.


Set shortly after the GSC arc (referring to when Green tries to hand Silver in).

* * *

"Green."

He turns towards her and is momentarily taken aback by the strength of her gaze. It is purposeful, solemn almost – not at all the playful, long-lashed wink he is so accustomed to.

"…Why did you do that to Silver?" She speaks quietly, but there is a certain hard edge to her voice that both surprises and irritates him.

_So that's what it's about_. He turns away. This isn't worth his time.

She is angry, he can tell. He can hear it growing in the silence as she waits for him to answer. Blue is a stubborn girl, and Green knows that she won't let this go.

"Green, I thought…I thought you understood."

He snorts. "Understood what? That he's a criminal? Yes, I understand that quite well."

When he had remained silent, Blue had been calm and controlled, nearly beseeching. But his remark sets something off, and he can tell how it has made her snap without even looking at her. Her words are hot and bristling, voice rising.

"A criminal? Is that what you think of him? Green—he didn't steal because he _wanted_ to! Silver's not like that. He did it because—"

She breaks off suddenly. He smirks and is a little surprised at the derisiveness of his own expression.

"Because what?" he prods. (Is this cruel smile really his own?)

"Because of me," she finishes softly, looking away.

And the muted sincerity of her downcast gaze makes him feel slightly ashamed, if he were willing to admit it. But he's _not_ wrong, he convinces himself, stubbornly quashing the small itch of guilt that crawls into his consciousness. Motives did not justify the acts; that was not how justice functioned.

"Blue, however noble you may feel his motives were, what Silver did was wrong. He took what did not belong to him, and used it for his own purposes. And he never provided reimbursement to the original owner. Thus, he should face the consequences of his actions."

Saying the words out loud reassures him of the soundness of his logic, and for a moment he is satisfied, certain she will see things his way. But then he watches her flinching at the coldness of his words, hands clenching at her sides; and somehow it doesn't seem entirely right anymore.

"I see," she says quietly. "That's how you think."

And he wonders why he feels so in the wrong with just that sentence from her lips, more and more condemned with every passing moment. (Is there something wrong with how he thinks? He's not wrong, is he? He _isn't_!)

She pins him with those piercing blue eyes, and he can't look away even though the look scalds him, makes his skin burn. "It's all about justice, right? What the law says is right and wrong?"

He opens his mouth to retort, but she cuts him off.

"It doesn't matter that Silver did it because he wanted to protect me. Silver is nothing more than a common criminal, right? And for that he deserves to go to jail."

"Blue, I didn't—"

"It's all right, I understand." She offers him a sarcastic smile that seems so wrong on her features. A cheerful grin, a capricious quirk of the lips, even a mischievous smirk would all seem natural for her, but _this _sort of smile—it jars him and he finds he can make no reply.

"Green, what I don't understand is….why not me?" (Her dizzying gaze—why can't he look away?)

"I…I did the same as Silver, but you never tried to turn me in. You never demanded that I be handed over to authorities, even though I've done so many wrong things in the past – more so than Silver. If not me, then why Silver?"

And he is left to pick at these festering questions as he listens to the fading echoes of her retreating footsteps.

He is stumped, utterly stumped. Why _not_ her? What she had said was perfectly true. She had stolen, deceived countless innocents (his idiotic friend Red included), and probably committed numerous other misconducts he wasn't even aware of. And yet he had never thought to turn her in. And why not? If he was the defender of justice he made himself out to be, then surely he should treat all misdeeds equally, no matter the perpetrator, right?

"_If not me, then why Silver?"_

Because…

Because…

But he can think of no answer, only the lingering scald of her gaze.

* * *

I've been wanting to write a Guriburu for a while now, but I find it really hard to write pokemon fanfiction/game fanfiction in general, just because I feel like I don't have a very good handle on the characters...yeah.


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